GIFT  OF 
Rev.   Ralph  Hunt 


The  World's  I 


I 

I 

i 


By  REV.  P.  C.  YORK 


I 


SAN  FRANCISCO: 

THE  TEXT  BOOK  PUBLISHING' COMP, 


The  World's  Desire 

By  REV.  P.  C.  YORKE,  D.  D. 


AN  ADDRESS  DELIVERED  AT  THE  PUBLIC 
-MEETING  OF  THE  ANNUAL  CONVENTION 
OF  THE  CATHOLIC  EDUCATIONAL  ASSOCIA- 
TION IN  NEW  ORLEANS,  LA.,  JULY  3,  1913 


SAN  FRANCISCO: 

THE  TEXT  BOOK  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 
641   STEVENSON  STREET 

19*3 


.*.  : 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress 
In  the  year  1913 
By  P.  C.  YORKE 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress 
Washington,  D.  C. 


To  the  Most  Reverend 
JAMES  H.  BLENK,  S.  M.t  D.  D., 

Archbishop  of  Nev>  Orleans, 
As  a  Slight  Tofyen  of  Cratltude  and  Respect. 


797978 


Imprimatur 

j%  P.  G.  KIOKDAN,  D.  D. 

Aeps.  Sti.  Francisci 


The  World's  Desire 

By  REV.  P.   C.  YORKE,  D.  D. 

AN  ADDRESS  DELIVERED  AT  THE  PUBLIC 
MEETING  OF  THE  ANNUAL  CONVENTION 
OF  THE  CATHOLIC  EDUCATIONAL  ASSOCIA- 
TION IN  NEW  ORLEANS,  LA.,  JULY  3,  1913 

THE  Convention  which  we  bring  to  a 
close  this  evening  has  two  aspects — 
one  private,  the  other  public.  The 
National  Catholic  Educational  Association 
is  a  purely  voluntary  society,  and,  there- 
fore, has  no  right  to  speak  formally  in  the 
name  of  the  Catholic  Church.  But  when 
we  consider  the  quality  of  its  membership, 
and  the  dignity  of  the  auspices  under 
which  it  has  met  here  this  year,  as  well  as 
elsewhere  in  other  years,  we  cannot  look 
upon  its  deliberations  and  conclusions  as 
those  of  a  mere  private  body.  We  do  not 
say  too  much  when  we  call  it  an  authentic 
index  of  the  Catholic  mind  in  America, 
and  when  we  claim  that  it  has  not  only 


The  Message  of  This  Convention. 

useful  counsel  for  those  who  are  of  the 
household  of  the  faith,  but  also  a  serious 
message  for  those  who  are  not  of  the  fold. 

During  the  past  four  days  the  managers 
and  teachers  of  the  Catholic  schools  have 
been  discussing  the  technical  details  of 
their  profession,  exchanging  ideas  and 
comparing  experiences.  They  have  been 
criticising  the  old  methods  of  instruction 
and  examining  the  new.  They  have  been 
seeking  to  eliminate  waste  in  the  class 
room  and  to  increase  efficiency.  They 
have  been  striving  to  broaden  the  scope 
of  their  teaching  without  sacrificing  its 
thoroughness.  Above  all,  they  have  been 
taking  counsel  to  maintain  the  old  Ameri- 
can tradition  of  academic  liberty  and  to 
encourage  and  hearten  one  another  in  the 
pursuit  of  their  sublime  though  arduous 
vocation  of  instructing  many  unto  justice 
and  of  raising  up  a  generation  that  will 
know  how  to  fulfill  with  equal  generosity 
the  parallel  duties  of  loving  God  and  serv- 
ing the  commonwealth. 

All   those   details,   however,  while   they 


For  Catholics  and  Non-Catholics  Alike. 

are  of  the  highest  importance  to  the  pro- 
fessional mind,  hardly  interest  the  Catholic 
laity  or  the  public  at  large.  Hence  it  has 
been  the  custom  in  all  the  conventions  of 
this  body  to  hold  an  open  meeting  at 
which  may  be  discussed  the  general  trend 
of  Catholic  education  and  its  significance 
to  this  Republic.  Such  is  the  object  of 
this  gathering;  and  while  I  feel  honored 
by  the  task  that  has  been  laid  upon  me,  it 
is  with  much  diffidence  I  address  myself  to 
it,  both  because  of  the  importance  of  the 
subject  and  the  character  of  the  audience. 
For  we  have  a  message — a  veritable  mes- 
sage of  life  and  death — not  only  for  the 
members  of  the  Catholic  community  but 
for  every  citizen  of  the  United  States. 

But  you  may  ask,  What  message  can  this 
convention  have  that  it  may  claim  so  wide 
a  hearing?  What  message  can  these  hum- 
ble and  retiring  men  and  women  have  for  a 
world  so  self-sufficient  and  so  noisy?  Even 
in  this  great  Catholic  city  their  coming 
and  going  scarcely  cause  a  ripple  on  the 
full  tide  of  public  life.  The  convention 


The  Same  Message  the  Apostles  Bore. 

of  a  third  or  even  of  a  fourth  political 
party  would  attract  infinitely  more  atten- 
tion, and  the  newspapers,  with  all  the  good 
will  in  the  world,  find  it  difficult  to  cull 
from  its  proceedings  sufficient  matter  for 
the  space  they  so  generously  allot  to  it. 
The  people  of  the  city  notice  only  a  few 
strangers  of  clerical  aspect  upon  their 
streets,  or  with  mild  curiosity  speculate  on 
the  unaccustomed  religious  uniforms  of 
the  Sisters  who  hurry  silently  from  their 
convents  to  the  meeting  place.  What  mes- 
sage can  these  have  for  the  great  world 
that  thunders  heedless  past  their  academic 
walls? 

Yet  here  we  have  in  these  last  days  an- 
other example  of  the  foolishness  of  preach- 
ing that  marked  the  first  days  of  the 
Church.  The  Kingdom  of  God  cometh 
not  with  observation.  The  Apostles  were 
sent  into  a  world  not  less  noisy,  not  less 
self-sufficient.  That  world  swept  over  the 
Apostles  and  apparently  obliterated  them; 
but  that  world  is  gone,  with  all  its  works 
and  pomps,  and  the  Apostles  still  remain. 

8 


Delivered   With   the  Same  Authority. 

The  winds  were  strong  and  the  waves  ran 
high  on  the  sea  of  Galilee  what  time  the 
fishermen's  boat  carried  Christ  to  the 
country  of  the  Gadarenes,  and  the  wise 
men  of  Capharnaum  may  have  speculated 
concerning  the  sudden  calm  that  fell  upon 
the  waters;  but  only  the  Apostles  knew 
whose  word  had  stilled  the  storm,  and  they 
alone  marveled  saying,  "What  manner  of 
Man  is  this  that  the  winds  and  the  sea 
obey  Him?" 

So  we  come  to  you  not  as  the  representa- 
tives of  great  majorities  or  as  the  spokes- 
men of  popular  opinion,  but  as  sent  by 
Him  to  whom  all  authority  is  given  in 
heaven  and  on  earth.  We  come  to  you 
not  with  the  ostentatious  apparatus  of 
material  resources,  but  with  the  faith  that 
moves  mountains  and  the  devotion  that 
cannot  be  purchased  by  the  treasuries  of 
kings.  This  convention  represents  the 
most  efficacious  mechanism  designed  by 
the  Church  to  meet  modern  conditions  in 
carrying  out  the  ancient  commission  to 
make  disciples  of  all  nations.  And  as  of 


To  a  World  That  Has  Rejected  Christ. 

old  time  that  same  Church  drew  the  wisest 
men  of  the  Roman  civilization  to  sit  as 
learners  at  her  feet,  and  tamed  the  fierce 
pride  of  the  Northern  barbarians  to  the 
service  of  the  Cross,  so  we  face  the  civili- 
zation of  to-day,  with  all  its  pride  and 
cold  carelessness  of  God,  confident  that  the 
arm  of  the  Lord  is  not  shortened  and  that 
He  is  able  even  of  these  stones  to  raise  up 
children  unto  Abraham. 

Consider  what  a  world  it  is  to  which  we 
speak.  The  Apostles  came  to  heal  the  cor- 
ruption of  Paganism;  we  are  sent  to  heal 
the  corruption  of  Christianity  itself — if  the 
salt  lose  its  savor  wherewith  shall  it  be 
salted?  The  civilizations  of  Rome  and 
Greece  knew  not  the  true  God,  though  they 
hungered  after  Him;  our  civilization  is 
disgusted  with  the  supernatural,  and  having 
been  cradled  in  the  Gospel  and  fostered  in 
the  Church,  would  in  its  old  age  curse  God 
and  die.  The  Apostles  planted  in  a  virgin 
soil,  that  needed  only  the  pruning  knife; 
we  labor  with  a  land  that  hath  drunk  the 
rain  that  cometh  oft  upon  it  and  beareth 

10 


And  Is  Tortured  With  a  Fierce  Unrest. 

but  thorns  and  thistles  and  is  therefore 
rejected  and  nigh  unto  a  curse,  whose  end 
is  to  be  burned.  They  dealt  with  the  youth 
of  the  world  and  the  fine  high  temper  that 
recognized  the  sincerity  of  sacrifice  and 
could  receive  the  Apostles'  challenge,  "If 
Christ  be  not  risen  again  then  are  we  the 
most  miserable  of  men;"  we  deal  with  the 
frozen  and  cynical  heart  of  a  disillusioned 
humanity  that  sneers  at  unselfishness  and 
weighs  the  highest  and  holiest  achieve- 
ments in  the  huckster's  scale. 

Yet  with  all  its  cold  cynicism  it  is  a 
world  of  fierce  unrest.  The  subsidized 
prophets  of  Carnegie  in  vain  cry  "peace, 
peace,"  and  there  is  no  peace.  From  end  to 
end  Europe  is  filled  with  armed  camps, 
and  every  camp  is  pitched  on  ground 
honeycombed  with  the  red  fires  of  revolu- 
tion. The  long-sleeping  millions  of  Asia  are 
stirring  as  a  giant  in  uneasy  slumber,  and 
what  their  awakening  may  portend  no  man 
can  foresee.  In  our  own  country,  what  is 
the  chief  characteristic  of  public  and  pri- 
vate life?  Here  are  no  standing  armies; 

ii 


In  Spite  of  the  Prosperity  of  America. 

here  are  no  hostile  frontiers ;  the  far  rumors 
of  wars  are  spent  and  die  on  our  peaceful 
seas.  Our  cities  are  swept  by  no  decimat- 
ing plagues,  no  famine  stalks  our  fields,  our 
barns  are  bursting  with  abundance.  In 
some  of  our  great  centers  of  population 
there  is  congestion,  with  consequent  pov- 
erty and  suffering;  but  it  is  a  transplanta- 
tion of  Old  World  conditions,  that  rapidly 
wither  and  disappear  before  American 
enterprise  and  opportunity.  Work  is  plen- 
tiful for  those  who  want  to  work.  Wages 
are  good,  and  if  they  are  not  better  it  is 
because  the  workingmen  will  not  use  their 
privilege  of  organization,  or  use  it  badly. 
The  cost  of  living,  it  is  true,  is  high,  but  so 
is  the  American  standard  of  living — the 
highest  average  in  the  world.  Here  are  no 
robber  dynasties,  no  vampire  aristocracies; 
the  evils  of  our  politics  are  surface  deep 
like  the  evils  proper  to  a  healthy  democ- 
racy; every  man  is  equal  before  the  law, 
and  more  and  more  extension  of  the  suf- 
frage is  associating  every  individual  of  age 
with  the  work  of  the  Government. 

12 


Our  People  Also  Are  Vaguely  Uneasy. 

Yet,  even  here  in  America,  I  ask  again, 
What  is  the  chief  characteristic  of  the 
age?  With  singular  unanimity  all  men 
skilled  in  reading  the  signs  of  the  times 
answer,  "Unrest."  Every  newspaper  has  its 
theory  of  discontent.  Every  street  corner 
is  vocal  with  remedies.  Like  a  man  sicken- 
ing to  a  serious  illness,  the  popular  mind  is 
feverish  and  uneasy.  Doubt  and  suspicion 
impregnate  the  atmosphere;  sudden  gusts 
of  passion  and  resentment  sweep  over  the 
mob.  This  vague  unrest  has  already  split 
one  great  political  party  in  twain,  and  will 
infallibly  dismember  the  other.  Not  in 
politics  alone  does  this  formless  doubt 
operate.  Like  the  foolish  seekers  after 
buried  treasure  men  are  digging  and  pry- 
ing at  the  very  foundation  stones  of  the 
State — careless  of  the  inevitable  ruin.  In 
economics  they  throng  after  every  Pied 
Piper  that  lures  them  with  childish  dreams 
of  cure-alls  for  poverty  and  the  patent 
revamping  of  the  unfit.  Divorce  has  shat- 
tered the  family,  and  between  free  love 
and  eugenics  there  would  not  be  left  of 

13 


While  We  Claim  We  Can  Heal  Ourselves. 

the  breaking  a  shard  wherein  a  little  fire 
might  be  carried  from  the  hearth  or  a  little 
water  be  drawn  from  the  cistern. 

Yet  concomitantly  with  all  this  uncer- 
tainty and  uneasiness  there  is  a  vociferous 
insistence  that  we  have  in  ourselves  every- 
thing that  is  needed  to  regulate  or  cure  our 
swift  recurring  evils  and  to  confirm  upon 
us  prosperity  and  peace.  When  a  man  is 
sure  of  his  ground  and  knows  the  extent  of 
his  resources  he  can  afford  to  move  confi- 
dently to  his  end  and  despise  in  silence 
those  that  would  hamper  or  prevent  him. 
But  when  a  man  is  not  sure  of  his  ground 
and  is  doubtful  of  his  resources  he  will 
naturally  grow  angry  at  opposition  and 
will  resort  to  brag  and  bluster  in  order  to 
conceal  the  inadequacy  of  his  equipment. 
So  our  age,  feeling  deep  down  in  its  soul 
its  utter  impotence  to  cope  alone  with  the 
problems  that  press  upon  it,  keeps  up  its 
courage  with  loud  words  and  vainglorious 
boasts.  It  is  impossible  to  read  a  page  of 
our  popular  literature  without  meeting 
with  sneers  and  gibes  at  the  past  and  bril- 


And  Look  to  Science  as  Our  Deliverer. 

liant  prognostications  of  the  future.  The 
world  is  in  travail  and  the  supreme  time- 
birth  is  at  hand.  No  longer  shall  nature 
blunder  and  blind  chance  preside  at  this 
new  Nativity,  but  Science  shall  assist  as 
midwife  and  foster-mother,  and,  behold! — 
the  Superman!  Gone  are  the  last  traces  of 
our  brute  ancestry!  Surgery  has  elimin- 
ated sensuality,  and  legislation  has  sup- 
pressed lust.  Suggestion  has  destroyed 
sloth,  environment  has  eradicated  gluttony, 
and  abundance  has  torn  up  covetousness  by 
the  root.  Perfect  health  has  made  anger 
impossible,  and  there  is  no  room  for  envy 
where  all  are  kings.  The  mock  virtue  of 
Christianity  known  as  humility  is  driven 
out  by  a  godlike  pride,  and  man  has  com- 
pleted the  conquest  of  the  w^orld  by  assum- 
ing the  mastery  of  his  own  destiny  and 
enforcing  the  absolute  supremacy  of  his 
own  will. 

Desperate  as  was  the  condition  of  the 
world  to  which  the  Apostles  were  sent,  a 
long  and  varied  experience  had  delivered  it 
from  this  monstrous  delusion.  Ovid  had 

15 


The  Pagan  World  Learned  by  Experience. 

summed  up  the  history  not  only  of  individ- 
uals but  of  nations  in  the  cynical  verse: 

"Video  meliora  proboque, 
"Deteriora  sequor." 

Men  had  seen  how  human  idealism  had 
again  and  again  taken  up  arms  against 
human  nature,  and  how  human  nature  had 
always  come  out  victorious.  The  stern 
asceticism  of  Sparta  had  failed  as  miser- 
ably as  the  beauty  and  laughter  of  Athens. 
Philosophy  had  assumed  the  management 
of  men's  lives,  and  a  few  years  had  made 
sophist  a  byword.  The  simple  fare  and 
manly  sports  of  young  Persia  had  degener- 
ated into  a  luxury  notorious  even  in  the 
records  of  Asiatic  effeminacy.  The  domes- 
tic and  civic  virtues  of  the  Romans  wilted 
under  the  sun  of  prosperity,  and  in  the 
height  of  empire  the  satirist  could  declare 
that  every  cesspool  of  humanity  emptied 
itself  into  the  Tiber. 

So  we,  if  we  will  only  clear  our  eyes  of 
the  moon-struck  theories  known  as  popular 
science,  and  look  beyond  the  limits  of  our 

16 


Human  Nature  is  Stronger  Than  Science. 

narrow  experience,  we,  too,  will  find  that 
with  all  our  progress  in  knowledge  and 
invention,  and  with  all  our  mastery  of 
physical  forces,  we  have  not  altered  an 
atom  in  our  frame,  and  man  is  still  man. 
The  wires  of  telegraph  and  telephone 
tingle  to  the  old  tales  of  human  joy,  or  sag 
beneath  the  old  burden  of  human  sorrow. 
The  ships  and  trains  that  fly  like  gleaming 
shuttles  to  and  fro  over  land  and  sea  are 
weaving  the  ancient  pattern  of  human 
hopes  and  human  disappointments.  As  in 
the  days  of  Noah  men  were  eating  and 
drinking  and  marrying  and  giving  in  mar- 
riage, and  as  in  the  days  of  Lot  they  ate 
and  they  drank  and  they  bought  and  they 
sold,  they  planted  and  they  builded — so  is 
it  in  our  day.  A  woman  still  hath  sorrow 
because  she  is  in  labor,  but  her  sorrow  is 
forgotten  for  joy  that  a  man  child  is  born 
into  the  world.  The  untraveled  eyes  still 
look  wistfully  on  the  green  hills  that  are 
far  away,  and  the  untaught  heart  still  hun- 
gers for  the  bitter  sweet  of  love's  young 
dream.  Men  still  go  high-spirited  into  the 

17 


We,  Also,  Are  Men  and  Bear  Men's  Burdens. 

battle  of  life  though  the  many  fall  by  the 
wayside  and  only  the  few  bear  the  guerdon 
away.  Willfulness  and  sin  still  stalk  hand 
in  hand  boldly  through  the  world;  obedi- 
ence and  peace  still  seek  the  silent  spaces 
and  haunt  the  hidden  paths.  Aye,  with  all 
our  far-trumpeted  discoveries,  all  our 
serums  and  antitoxins  and  prophylactics, 
the  rider  on  the  pale  horse  still  traverses 
the  earth  and  the  twang  of  his  bow  never 
ceases.  Morning  by  morning  the  fre- 
quent processions  issue  from  our  gates, 
and  though  man's  last  home  is  narrow  and 
the  tombs  are  crowded  close,  the  cemeteries 
are  ever  stretching  out  their  lean  arms  and 
the  cities  of  the  dead  constrict  and  incom- 
mode the  cities  of  the  living.  What  senti- 
ment that  ever  stirred  the  human  heart  is 
alien  to  our  hearts  to-day?  What  burden, 
what  responsibility  that  ever  lay  on  the 
children  of  Adam  from  the  beginning  is 
absent  from  our  shoulders  now?  What 
catastrophe  of  the  human  tragedy  is 
strange  to  our  times? 

18 


No  Matter  How  Much  We  Boost  and  Boast. 

"For   men   must  work   and   women   must 

weep, 
And  there's   little   to  earn   and  many  to 

keep; 
Though  the  harbor  bar  be  moaning." 

These  things  are  none  the  less  true  that 
here  in  America  we  do  not  give  ourselves 
time  to  appreciate  them.  We  are  so  busy 
boasting  and  boosting,  advertising  ourselves 
and  all  that  belongs  to  us,  that  we  forget 
that  only  one  thing  is  necessary.  But  in  spite 
of  all  our  forgetf ulness  it  will  not  be  denied. 
Human  nature  will  always  assert  itself,  and 
there  is  nothing  more  human  than  our  help- 
lessness before  the  stern  realities  of  life  and 
the  longing  that  will  not  down  for  some 
thing  beyond  the  day  and  the  evils  thereof. 

"The  desire  of  the  moth  for  the  star, 

Of  the  night  for  the  morrow; 
The  devotion  to  something  afar 
From  the  sphere  of  our  sorrow." 

The  Greek  poets  fabled  how  Jove's  eagle 
ever  fed  on  the  heart  of  the  Titan  that  first 
raised  man  above  the  level  of  the  beast.  In 
that  they  symbolized  the  truth  that  the 

19 


The  Divine  Discontent  Eats  Our  Hearts. 


essential  difference  between  man  and  beast 
lies  in  that  divine  discontent  which  postu- 
lates an  immortal  soul.  The  eye  is  not 
filled  with  seeing,  neither  is  the  ear  filled 
with  hearing. 

Consider  the  commonplaces  of  life— 
those  truisms  that  we  depise  because  they 
are  so  familiar — and  let  us  learn  from 
them  the  lesson  the  fool  will  not  see  be- 
cause his  eyes  are  on  the  ends  of  the  earth. 
Behold  how  eagerly  men  strive  to  satisfy 
their  sensual  appetites.  No  labor  is  too 
heavy,  no  vigil  too  long.  Yet,  when  they 
have  attained  their  hearts'  desire,  satiety 
robs  them  of  pleasure  and  the  dead  sea 
fruit  turns  their  soul  to  bitterness. 

Even  in  the  search  for  knowledge,  the 
most  spiritual  of  human  aims,  the  same 
law  reigns.  The  young  and  the  un- 
experienced may  boast  of  the  finality  of 
science,  but  years  and  study  reveal  to  us 
the  vast  uncharted  sea  on  which  we  are  but 
a  speck  and  the  dim,  receding  horizon 
that  ever  mocks  our  pursuit.  "I  gave  my 
heart,"  says  Solomon,  "to  know  prudence, 

20 


Love,  Knowledge,  Power  Do  Not  Content. 

and  learning,  and  errors,  and  folly,  and  I 
have  perceived  that  in  these  also  is  vanity 
and  vexation  of  spirit." 

Observe  the  close  of  the  two  careers 
Americans  choose  in  preference  to  all 
others,  the  pusuit  of  power  and  the  pursuit 
of  wealth.  See  how  doggedly  the  devotee 
of  ambition  faces  the  steep  ascent,  and  how 
in  that  gruelling  climb  everything  that 
might  hamper  him  is  cast  away — family, 
friends,  health,  principle,  self-respect — aye, 
even  God.  Yet,  when  the  lonely  eminence 
is  attained,  and  he  stands  ever  on  the  alert 
while  his  enemies  whisper  and  plot  his 
ruin,  how  often  do  his  thoughts  turn  to  the 
lowly  station  from  which  he  rose  and  he 
envies  the  peace  and  contentment  of  the 
hermit's  cell: 

L'ambition  deplait  quand  elle  est  assouvie_, 
D'une  contraire  ardeur  son  ardeur  est 

suivie; 
Et  comme  notre  esprit,  jusqu'  au  dernier 

soupir, 
Toujours  vers  quelque  objet  pousse  quelque 

desir, 

21 


Nor  Yet  Money.     Men  and  Nations  Alike. 

II   se  ramene   en   soi,   n'ayant  plus   ou   se 

prendre, 
Et,  monte  sur  le  faite,  il  aspire  a  descendre. 

Is  there  any  need  in  these  days  to  enlarge 
on  the  sordid  cares,  the  coarse  brutality, 
the  cynical  injustice,  the  cold  indiffer- 
ence to  human  sorrow,  the  reckless  waste 
of  human  lives  which  mark  the  accumula- 
tion of  millions?  Is  there  any  need  to  ex- 
patiate on  the  crude  luxury  and  the  vulgar 
ostentation  that  accompany  the  spending  of 
those  millions  or  to  heighten  the  colors  of 
the  swift  succeeding  pictures  of  wrecked 
homes  and  squalid  divorce  courts,  of  the 
criminal's  dock  and  the  doubtful  mercy  of 
the  insane  asylujn?  Grant  these  are  aber- 
rations of  the  few,  yet  the  hour  must  arrive 
for  all,  perhaps  at  the  very  moment  the 
race  is  swiftest  and  the  prize  most  tempt- 
ing, when  the  doctors  stand  helpless  round 
the  bed  of  the  rich  man,  on  whom  all 
remedies  and  medicines  and  skill  have 
been  exhausted,  for  the  sentence  that  lies 
equal  on  millionaire  and  pauper  has  gone 
forth,  and  dying  he  must  surely  die. 

22  1 


Witness  the  Dreams  of  the  19th  Century. 

What  is  true  of  the  individual  is  true  of 
the  community.  The  nations  also  weary  of 
the  accomplished  fact  and  forever  hunger 
after  some  good  they  know  not.  In  proof 
thereof  we  have  no  need  to  search  the 
history  of  far-off  ages.  It  is  not  necessary 
that  we  should  sit  with  Marius  weeping 
over  the  ruins  of  Carthage  or  sigh  with 
Alexander  for  other  worlds  to  conquer. 
We  can  find  the  evidence  in  our  own  times 
and  in  our  own  country.  The  nineteenth 
century  was  emphatically  the  century  of 
great  popular  ideals.  The  dreams  that 
once  had  been  the  perquisites  of  poets 
alone  and  the  theories  that  once  belonged 
exclusively  to  philosophers  had  been  scat- 
tered broadcast  through  the  world  by  the 
French  Revolution.  To  this  day  we  see 
them  leavening  lands  the  most  distant  and 
working  amongst  people  the  most  diverse. 
But  during  the  nineteenth  century  it  was 
among  the  European  races  that  their  activ- 
ity was  most  manifest.  Every  nation  was 
seeing  visions  and  dreaming  dreams.  The 
ideals  of  political  independence,  national 

23 


Last  State  of  Europe  Worse  Than  First. 

unity,  popular  government,  military  glory, 
commercial  supremacy,  universal  educa- 
tion were  in  varying  degrees  but  in  every 
country  set  before  the  masses  as  the  sure 
means  for  securing  for  all  prosperity,  con- 
tent and  happiness.  The  nations  gave 
credit  to  their  prophets,  and  spared  noth- 
ing sacred  or  profane  in  the  attempt  to 
make  the  prophecies  come  true.  Yet  at  the 
beginning  of  the  twentieth  century  the  last 
condition  of  Europe  is  worse  than  the  first. 
Every  step  in  advance  has  brought  new  and 
more  difficult  problems  into  view.  Every 
hoary  old  abuse  cut  down  has  made  place 
for  a  crop  of  young  and  sturdy  ills.  The 
new  thought  scorns  the  idea  of  Fatherland 
and  claims  that  nothing  less  than  the  whole 
race  forms  a  fit  object  for  the  love  and 
devotion  of  humanity.  The  modern  ideal- 
ist curses  the  great  armies  that  military 
glory  demands  and  the  ever-growing  navies 
made  necessary  by  the  struggle  for  com- 
mercial supremacy.  Too  often  have  politi- 
cal independence  and  national  unity  piled 
up  a  load  of  taxation  that  has  crushed  out 

24 


America,    Itself,    Full   of   Disillusion. 

industry  and  driven  millions  from  their 
ancestral  homes.  Republics  have  become 
the  mock  of  their  own  citizens  and  the 
moral  and  intellectual  uplift  produced  by 
universal  education  may  be  judged  by  the 
banality  of  popular  literature  and  the 
almost  universal  degradation  of  the  period- 
ical press. 

Is  there  a  country  in  the  world  so 
favored  by  nature  as  our  own?  God  has 
fed  us  with  the  fat  of  wheat  and  nourished 
us  with  honey  from  the  rock,  yet  since  the 
days  the  Israelites  grew  weary  of  the  bread 
from  heaven  and  loathed  the  meat  the 
Lord  had  sent  them,  never  was  there  a 
people  so'  full  of  disillusion  and  discontent 
as  the  American  people  to-day.  For  nearly 
a  century  and  a  half  we  have  pursued 
liberty  with  an  ardor  seldom  displayed 
among  men  and  with  opportunities  given 
to  few  nations.  We  have  advocated  device 
after  device  and  made  enactment  after 
enactment;  we  have  impressed  the  services 
of  our  wisest;  we  have  not  spared  the  blood 
of  our  bravest,  and  yet  the  cry  rises  to-day 

25 


Our  Achievements  Become  Our  Problems. 

more  insistent  than  ever  that  popular  sove- 
reignty amongst  us  is  but  a  sham,  that  the 
people's  franchises  are  being  filched  from 
under  their  very  eyes,  and  that  every 
department  of  the  government  is  prosti- 
tuted to  the  emolument  of  the  few. 

Not  in  any  age  of  which  we  have  a 
record  has  mankind  gained  so  great  a 
mastery  over  the  powers  of  nature  or 
obtained  such  an  insight  into  the  secrets  of 
the  physical  universe.  To-day  the  common 
man  has  at  his  use  means  of  locomotion 
and  communication  that  no  Caesar  could 
command.  The  laborer  sees  on  his  table 
delicacies  that  even  a  few  years  ago  princes 
could  not  afford,  and  he  has  in  his  home 
conveniences  that  olden  kings  might  envy. 
His  children  are  clad  as  well  as  the 
children  of  the  rich  in  ancient  times,  and 
they  receive  opportunities  of  education  and 
culture  that  within  our  own  memory  were 
the  exclusive  privileges  of  the  great  fami- 
lies of  the  land.  Yet  the  very  means  that 
have  made  these  things  possible — the  great 
corporations  and  the  trusts — give  rise  to  the 

26 


Our  New  Light  Makes  Darkness  Visible. 

most  dangerous  problems  that  confront  the 
economic  and  political  worlds,  and  labor 
finds  in  its  very  luxuries  additional  causes 
for  discontent. 

In  our  day  the  old  romantic  quests  have 
come  to  an  end.  We  have  discovered  the 
Fountain  of  Youth  in  a  pestilential  marsh 
and  the  Golden  Cities  in  the  tawny  desert 
cliffs.  The  secret  of  the  Poles  has  at  last 
been  yielded  up,  and  we  have  found  it  to 
be  no  secret — only  the  drifting  ice  floe  of 
the  north  and  the  storm-scourged  mountain 
shoulders  of  the  farthest  south.  The  tales 
of  the  ancient  mythology  have  beeji  made 
real,  and  men  have  emulated  Daedalus  in 
his  flight  only  to  meet  the  apparently  inevi- 
table Icarian  disaster.  The  further  science 
has  advanced  into  the  temple  of  nature  the 
thicker  has  grown  the  darkness  and  the 
more  unyielding  the  adamantine  doors  that 
guard  her  holy  of  holies. 

It  is  the  old,  old  story  for  the  individual 
and  the  race;  we  are  tormented  by  our 
longings  and  scourged  by  our  fulfilled 
desires.  So  must  it  be,  for  after  all  there 

27 


Man  Made  for  God;    God  Alone  Can  Satisfy. 

is  nothing  in  the  race  that  is  not  in  the 
individual.  And  as  the  real  cause  of  the 
discontent  in  the  individual  is  that  he  is  but 
a  stranger  and  a  pilgrim  here  below,  so  the 
real  cause  of  the  discontent  in  the  race  is 
that  here  it  has  no  abiding  place.  As  St. 
Augustine,  beginning  the  story  of  his  long 
search  for  truth,  writes  at  the  head  of  his 
Confessions,  "Thou,  O  Lord,  hast  made  us 
for  Thyself,  and  our  hearts  shall  find  no 
rest  until  they  rest  in  Thee,"  so  we  can 
justly  inscribe  the  same  words  on  the  scroll 
of  human  history:  "Thou,  O  God,  in  the 
beginning  didst  make  the  peoples  for  Thy 
service,  and  they  shall  never  know  content 
until  they  acknowledge  Thee  the  World's 
Desire  and  Jesus  Christ,  Thy  Son,  who  is 
the  Expectation  of  the  Nations." 

This  then,  let  us  acknowledge  it,  is  the 
secret  of  human  discontent.  This  is  the 
main  source  of  our  unrest  in  America  to- 
day. Let  no  man  deceive  you  by  saying 
that  the  people  are  uneasy  because  agita- 
tors are  tampering  with  the  constitution 
or  because  politicians  are  disturbing  the 

28 


In  America  We  Have  Banished  God. 

laws  of  economics.  These  things  are 
merely  symptoms,  not  causes.  The  truth 
is  that  agitators  are  abroad  in  the  land 
and  politicians  are  casting  about  for  new 
policies  because  both  they  and  the  people 
are  uneasy  and  they  know  not  the  reason 
why.  Let  publicists  say  what  they  will  of 
a  newly  awakened  civil  consciousness,  and 
prate  what  they  please  about  broadening 
concepts  of  social  service,  or  mouth  unc- 
tiously  of  dynamic  policies  that  make  for 
progress — these  are  but  catch-words  and 
campaign  cries  usually  empty  of  sense  and 
always  devoid  of  sincerity.  The  great 
primal  cause  remains:  America  has  ban- 
ished God  from  public  life.  On  occasion 
it  is  true  we  pay  Him  lip  service,  but  the 
heart  of  the  political  world,  the  heart  of 
the  economic  world,  the  heart  of  the  social 
word — aye,  the  heart  of  the  whole  people 
is  far  from  Him.  There  has  been  no  ran- 
cor in  our  motives  for  getting  rid  of  Him. 
There  has  been  no  coarseness  in  our  meth- 
ods of  banishing  Him.  In  our  churches 
we  allow  the  widest  latitude  of  opinion  as 

29 


In  Spite  of  All  Religion  Did  for  Us. 

to  the  proper  manner  of  serving  Him. 
Outside  of  the  churches  we  gently  but 
firmly  refuse  Him  and  His  Word  the 
slightest  influence  on  our  public  program. 
Such  an  attitude  of  mind  is  so  "un- 
American,"  as  they  say,  so  opposed  to  our 
history  and  traditions,  that  at  first  hearing 
we  are  liable  to  grow  indignant  at  the 
charge  and  to  resent  it  as  a  calumny.  After 
all,  there  never  was  a  land  in  whose  mak- 
ing religion  played  so  great  a  part  as  this. 
It  was  the  magic  of  the  Crusades  that 
tempted  Columbus  to  seek  the  new  route 
to  the  Indies,  and  the  continent  he  discov- 
ered was  named  not  unfittingly  the  Land 
of  the  Holy  Cross.  The  great  highway 
from  the  Atlantic  into  the  heart  of  this 
country  was  opened  by  the  missionaries 
and  voyageurs,  who,  sailing  up  the  St. 
Lawrence  and  through  the  Great  Lakes, 
wrote  a  new  and  not  the  least  worthy 
chapter  of  the  Gesta  Dei  per  Francos.  It 
was  the  same  intrepid  soldiers  of  religion 
who,  traversing  forest  and  prairie,  hap- 
pened at  last  on  the  Father  of  Waters,  and, 

30 


Country  Rooted  and  Founded  in  Religion. 

descending  its  long  course,  marked  the 
majestic  crescent  whereon  was  to  rise  this 
Gateway  of  the  South  that  faces  the  isles 
of  spice  and  palm  and  waits  for  the 
greater  things  to  be  when  the  dream  of 
Columbus  is  realized  and  the  Indies  of 
the  East  and  the  Indies  of  the  West  shall 
find  here  their  common  meeting  point. 

When  the  swarming  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  British  Isles  and  the  maritime  coun- 
tries of  Northern  Europe  sent  out  Puritan 
and  Cavalier,  Independent  and  Quaker, 
French  Huguenot,  Dutch  Calvinist  and 
Swedish  Lutheran  to  our  Atlantic  sea- 
board, they,  too,  came  in  the  name  of  reli- 
gion, and  in  order  that  the  old  Church 
might  not  be  absent  it  was  the  Catholics 
of  Maryland  who  kindled  the  friendly 
beacon  of  religious  toleration  that  lighted 
the  feet  of  the  fathers  of  this  republic  to 
that  generous  and  humane  liberty  that  has 
always  been  America's  proudest  boast. 

The  last  great  expedition  inspired  by 
Spanish  enterprise- 


The  Spirit  of  the  People  Christian. 

"the  dying  glow  of  Spanish  glory, 
The  sunset  dream  and  last," 

marched  also  under  the  banner  of  the 
Cross.  From  the  end  of  Lower  California 
to  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco  the  Missions, 
like  the  towers  of  a  long  rampart,  faced 
the  Pacific,  and  under  their  protection  a 
new  Christian  civilization  was  developed 
in  peace.  It  is  true  that  the  circumstances 
were  not  propitious  for  its  continuance,  but 
the  names  of  saint  and  angel  on  river  and 
town  and  hill  still  bear  testimony  to  the 
spirit  that  laid  the  foundations  of  Cali- 
fornia, and  in  spite  of  material  temptations 
and  the  forgetfulness  of  prosperity  still 
claims  that  imperial  commonwealth  for  its 
own. 

Although  the  semi-pagan  ideas  of  revo- 
lutionary France  had  an  undoubted  hold 
on  many  of  the  men  that  framed  our  Con- 
stitution, the  sober  common  sense  of  the 
majority  and  the  strong  religious  feeling 
of  the  people  at  large  neutralized  their 
dangerous  tendencies  and  gave  their  enact- 
ments an  interpretation  more  in  accordance 

32 


Generously  Devoted  to  Their  Churches. 

with  Christian  principles.  The  States  fol- 
lowed the  lead  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment in  prohibiting  an  "Establishment  of 
Religion,"  but  the  people  none  the  less 
generously  supported  the  churches,  set  up 
religious  schools  and  founded  colleges  that 
they  might  have  the  services  of  a  well- 
learned  ministry.  This  was  the  work  not 
of  one  denomination  or  two,  but  of  every 
denomination,  and  it  was  a  magnificent 
testimony  to  the  inherent  religiousness  of 
the  American  people  that  in  the  fierce 
struggle  with  nature,  in  the  appalling  task 
of  subduing  a  continent,  amid  besetting 
temptations  to  laxity  and  forgetfulness,  in 
all  their  wanderings,  they  carried  with 
them  their  fathers'  God  and  in  every  new 
village  and  in  every  new  city  built  them 
their  tabernacles,  in  order  that  they  might 
adore  in  the  place  in  which  they  believed 
His  feet  had  stood. 

Yet  even  within  our  own  experience  a 
wonderful  change  has  come  over  the  spirit 
of  the  American  people.  For  that  change 
it  is  not  my  intention  to  apportion  praise 

33 


Yet  a  Great  Change  Has  Come  Over  Them. 

or  blame — I  simply  state  the  facts.  Every- 
body acknowledges  that  the  old  American 
sense  of  religion  is  practically  gone.  The 
decay,  of  course,  has  not  progressed  with 
equal  pace  in  all  sections  of  the  country. 
Here  in  the  South,  with  your  more  conser- 
vative temper,  much  of  the  ancient  spirit 
remains,  but  everywhere  the  same  effects 
are  visible.  A  universal  cause  is  at  work, 
and  it  is  only  a  question  of  time  when  uni- 
versal results  will  be  attained. 

The  change  to  which  I  refer  has  worked 
out  in  two  ways — first,  in  an  actual  dis- 
appearance of  Christianity,  and,  secondly, 
in  an  altered  conception  of  what  Christian- 
ity really  means.  The  single  cause  that 
accounts  for  these  results  is  the  lack  of  reli- 
gious teaching. 

Where  Christianity  has  been  handed 
down  for  generations  from  father  to  son, 
it  becomes  easy  to  ignore  the  fact  that  it 
is  essentially  a  taught  religion.  The  com- 
mission given  the  Apostles  was  that  they 
should  go  into  the  whole  world  and  teach 
all  the  nations.  Faith,  which  is  the  foun- 

34 


Caused  by  Loss  of  Christian  Schools. 

dation  of  all  righteousness,  is  a  virtue,  not 
of  the  will,  but  of  the  intellect,  and  St. 
Paul  asks:  How  can  men  believe  unless 
they  hear,  and  how  can  they  hear  without 
a  preacher? 

Hence,  unless  the  Christian  religion  is 
taught  in  some  way,  it  degenerates  and 
finally  disappears.  Of  course  we  know 
that  teaching  or  preaching  can  be  effected 
in  more  ways  than  one,  and  that  the 
Christian  teachers  or  preachers  must  ac- 
commodate themselves  to  the  times  and  the 
people.  The  ancient  Roman  world  had 
one  method,  the  Middle  Age  another,  and 
our  day  a  third.  This  modern  system  of 
teaching  makes  almost  exclusive  use  of  the 
organization  known  as  the  school,  college 
or  university.  Those  bodies  have  existed, 
it  is  true,  in  every  generation,  but  they 
have  now,  and  especially  in  America, 
received  such  an  extension  as  practically  to 
monopolize  all  teaching. 

But,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  and  here  again 
I  am  not  apportioning  praise  or  blame, 
but  merely  calling  attention  to  what  you 

35 


School  Has  Gained  Monopoly  of  Teaching. 

all  know  to  be  true,  for  three-quarters  of  a 
century  the  teaching  of  religion  has  been 
barred  from  the  schools.  It  is  not  neces- 
sary now  to  inquire  why  it  was  barred; 
all  we  need  do  is  to  bear  in  mind  the  fact. 
The  subject  of  religion  was  left  entirely 
outside  of  the  great  modern  machinery  of 
teaching  and  relegated  to  the  family  or  the 
Church.  Now,  when  we  find  any  one 
agency  for  obtaining  a  particular  end  oust- 
ing all  other  agencies  for  the  same  pur- 
pose, we  naturally  conclude  that  it  pos- 
sesses a  special  fitness  for  the  circumstances 
in  which  it  works.  When  we  see,  there- 
fore, the  school  vindicating  for  itself  a 
practical  monopoly  of  education  in  our 
day,  as  against  the  older  means  of  the 
family  or  the  Church,  we  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  modern  conditions  are  such 
as  to  render  the  work  of  family  or  Church 
inefficacious  when  compared  with  the  work 
of  the  school.  How  true  this  conclusion  is 
your  daily  experience  will  show.  The  mem- 
bers of  the  modern  American  family  are 
so  occupied  with  toil  that  there  is  little 

36 


Neither  Home  Nor  Church  Can  Compete. 

opportunity  and  less  energy  left  for  in- 
struction. The  father  comes  home  worn 
out  with  the  strenuous  labor  of  head  or 
hand.  The  mother  herself  must  also  seek 
employment  abroad  or  else  she  is  burdened 
with  that  work  which  is  never  done,  the 
duties  of  her  household.  The  children  as 
they  grow  up  are  quickly  conscripted  to 
the  tread  mill,  so  that  if  the  little  ones  are 
to  be  taught  any  subject,  religious  or  secu- 
lar, they  must  be  taught  it  by  some  agency 
other  than  the  family. 

The  Church,  too,  is  as  handicapped  as 
the  home.  Owing  to  modern  industrial 
conditions,  her  formal  teaching  work  is 
confined  now  to  one  day  in  the  week  and 
to  a  short  period  during  that  day.  The 
necessity  of  recreation  and  the  allurements 
of  pleasure  have  emptied  the  Protestant 
pews  and  have  concentrated  the  Catholic 
attendance  on  the  early  Masses.  An  enor- 
mous amount  of  thought  and  money  has 
been  expended,  especially  among  Protest- 
ants, on  the  organization  and  upkeep  of 
the  Sunday  school,  and  there  may  be  places 

37 


Religion  Not  Taught,  Degenerates  and  Dies. 

where  good  results  have  been  obtained, 
but  as  far  as  the  ordinary  teacher  in  the 
ordinary  Sunday  school  is  concerned,  what 
results  can  he  expect  out  of  forty-five  min- 
utes of  disorder? 

Hence  it  has  come  to  pass  that  among 
the  Protestant  denominations  the  teaching 
of  religion  in  an  effective  manner  has 
ceased.  Year  by  year  the  momentum  of 
traditional  Christianity  has  been  steadily 
slackening.  According  to  all  accounts,  the 
country  districts  are  reverting  to  paganism, 
and  in  the  cities  vast  multitudes  are  out  of 
touch  with  any  form  of  religious  worship 
or  belief. 

The  changed  conception  of  religion, 
which  is  now  almost  universal  among  those 
who  are  affiliated  with  the  Protestant  de- 
nominations, arises  also  from  the  fact  that 
Christianity  has  ceased  to  be  regarded  as  a 
religion  that  is  to  be  taught.  Christ  came 
upon  earth  to  bear  witness  to  the  truth. 
He  commissioned  His  Apostles  to  carry 
that  truth  to  the  end  of  the  earth.  He 
established  His  Church  to  preserve  that 

38 


The  Idea  of  Dogma  Also  Has  Been  Lost. 

truth  to  the  consummation  of  the  ages.  If 
truth  is  to  be  taught,  it  must  be  formu- 
lated ;  if  it  is  to  be  kept  free  from  error,  it 
must  be  defined.  Truth  authoritatively 
formulated  and  defined  we  call  dogma,  and 
dogma  therefore  is,  as  it  were,  the  steel 
framework  of  Christianity. 

In  the  sixteenth  century,  when  the  Prot- 
estants rejected  the  authority  of  the  Pope, 
they  did  not  reject  the  idea  of  dogma. 
They  simply  asserted  their  own  right  to 
formulate  and  teach  the  truth  as  they  saw 
it,  and  they  were  in  their  way  far  more 
dogmatic  than  the  Holy  See.  The  origin 
of  the  various  sects  is  to  be  found  in  this 
fact.  The  differences  between  them  were 
in  the  main  differences  in  dogma  or  in 
what  they  believed  to  be  the  teaching  of 
Holy  Writ. 

The  lack  of  religious  teaching,  however, 
has  confused  in  the  minds  of  Protestants 
the  idea  of  dogma.  Judging  by  their  own 
experience,  they  take  it  to  be  individual 
opinion  unduly  stressed.  Remembering 
the  sects,  the  divisions,  the  hatreds  aroused 

39 


Hence,  Rise  of  Non-Dogmatic  Religions. 

by  it,  they  consider  it  an  evil  well  rid  of. 
They  do  not  realize  that  what  they  know 
is  dogma  run  riot,  not  dogma  regulated  by 
competent  authority.  Moreover,  they  are 
deeply  sensible  of  the  scandals  of  disunion, 
and  knowing  that  now  in  the  bankruptcy 
of  religious  education  it  is  not  religious 
ideas  that  are  keeping  the  people  divided, 
they  are  anxious  to  throw  all  their  creeds 
into  the  lumber  room  and  seek  for  some 
ethical  program  in  which  all  can  unite. 

That  program  has  two  main  divisions. 
The  first  is  the  legitimate  result  of  the  old 
Puritan  passion  for  regulation,  and  consists 
in  the  pursuit  of  the  deadly  cigarette,  the 
war  against  the  demon  rum,  the  eradica- 
tion of  immorality  by  acts  of  Congress  and 
the  spread  of  devotion  to  that  curious  com- 
bination of  grape  juice  and  French  dinners 
which  is  liable  to  destroy  more  digestions 
than  all  the  Bourbon  that  ever  came  out  of 
Kentucky. 

The  second  division  is  more  modern, 
and  apparently  promises  larger  returns.  It 
finds  the  church  existing  as  an  organiza- 

40 


Social  Service  Is  Now  New  Gospel. 

tion  with  its  business  gone.  It  would  give 
it  new  work  to  do.  The  church  should  take 
charge  of  the  culture  of  the  people  and  the 
culture  of  the  fields.  There  is  settlement 
work  to  be  carried  on  in  the  slums  of  the 
city ;  there  is  scientific  farming  to  be  taught 
in  the  country.  The  schools  should  be 
made  more  efficient,  recreation  centers 
should  be  provided  and  supervised,  public 
life  should  be  disinfected  and  politicians 
should  march  to  office  only  to  the  tune  of 
"Onward,  Christian  Soldiers."  The  pecu- 
liar cant  that  characterized  the  so-called 
Progressive  outbreak  last  year  had  its  ori- 
gin in  these  modernist  conceptions  of  the 
church  and  the  church's  duty.  It  is  the 
new  patch  that  rends  the  old  garment,  the 
new  wine  seething  in  the  old  and  torn  skins. 
Such,  without  exaggeration,  is  the  con- 
dition of  the  majority  of  the  people  of  this 
country  to-day.  They  are  not  opposed  to 
religion;  they  simply  know  nothing  about 
it.  Except  on  social  occasions,  they  never 
see  the  inside  of  a  church,  and  while  they 
call  themselves  Christians,  and  are  gener- 


But  Does  Not  Satisfy  Longing  for  God. 

ous  toward  Christian  enterprises,  they  have 
cut  themselves  off  completely  from  the 
Christian  fellowship  that  common  wor- 
ship involves.  If  they  conceive  an  intel- 
lectual curiosity  about  religion,  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  gratify  it  from  the  materials 
at  hand.  They  do  not  take  kindly  to  the 
old-time  theological  warfare  and  the 
thought  of  the  modern  clergy  is  too  misty 
to  satisfy  men  who  in  the  ordinary  walks 
of  life  are  accustomed  to  think  clearly 
and  to  formulate  their  conclusions  with 
almost  mathematical  exactitude.  Of  course 
the  old  Church  never  enters  into  their 
minds,  because  they  think  it  is  like  Protest- 
antism, only  more  so.  When  they  are 
seized  with  that  uneasiness  of  spirit  which 
is  God's  voice  speaking  to  the  natural 
heart,  either  they  misinterpret  it  and  seek 
relief  in  every  quarter  except  the  right 
quarter,  or,  if  they  do  go  to  the  churches, 
they  find  little  relief  in  preachers  that 
preach  only  themselves  or  in  creeds  that 
have  substituted  a  sentimental  and  hazy 
humanitarianism  in  the  place  of  God. 

42 


The  People  Are  Looking  for  Leaders. 

It  is  evident  at  once  that  this  state  of 
affairs  constitutes  a  most  serious  danger  to 
the  republic.  A  vast  multitude,  uneasy  and 
expectant,  is  waiting  for  leaders.  The  con- 
ditions strangely  resemble  those  described 
by  our  Lord  as  characteristic  of  the  last 
days  when  the  troubled  nations  shall  look 
for  the  false  Christs  and  false  prophets  and 
the  rumors  shall  run  among  them  of  mighty 
signs  and  wonders  wrought  in  the  deserts  or 
in  the  secret  chambers  of  the  house.  Whence 
shall  their  leaders  come  and  what  shall  be 
their  message?  In  a  country  of  universal 
education  and  in  a  scientific  age  we  natu- 
rally expect  them  to  be  educated  men 
bringing  the  latest  remedies  of  science  to 
the  solution  of  our  problems  and  the  settle- 
ment of  our  discontent. 

But  here  precisely  it  is  that  the  danger 
is  imminent.  The  suppression  of  religious 
instruction  was  begun  in  the  common 
schools,  but  has  now  spread  to  the  colleges 
and  the  universities.  As  I  have  said, 
these  institutions  of  the  higher  learning 
were  originally  denominational  seminaries 

43 


But  Universities  Now  Are  Godless. 

for  the  education  of  the  ministry.  For  a 
long  time  they  kept  their  religious  charac- 
ter, taught  a  definite  religious  creed,  and 
maintained  their  own  religious  worship. 
But  the  time-spirit  has  been  too  strong  for 
them.  Great  wealth  soon  made  the  univer- 
sities, as  they  say,  non-sectarian.  The  col- 
leges, aping  the  universities,  immediately 
fell  into  line.  Such  a  development,  indeed, 
was  natural,  and,  though  the  intentions  of 
the  founders  were  not  respected,  there  was 
nothing  mean  or  dishonorable  in  the  mo- 
tives for  the  change;  but  since  the  day 
Judas  sold  his  Master  for  thirty  pieces  of 
silver  there  has  been  no  more  disgraceful 
exhibition  of  unprincipled  greed  than  the 
action  of  those  denominational  colleges  that 
have  banished  the  faith  of  their  fathers 
from  the  curriculum  in  order  to  share  in 
the  bloodstained  money  of  Andrew  Car- 
negie. 

Now,  the  banishment  of  religion  from 
the  high  school  and  college  automatically 
insures  that  the  educated  classes — the  men 
of  light  and  leading  in  the  country — shall 

44 


The  Educated  Are  Materialists. 

not  be  Christians.  Even  when  he  comes 
from  a  God-fearing  family,  the  youth  is 
handicapped  as  regards  his  faith  the  mo- 
ment he  enters  such  institutions  of  the 
higher  learning.  He  goes  in  with  a  boy's 
equipment  in  religion  and  proceeds  to 
acquire  a  man's  equipment  in  secular  and 
too  often  agnostic  science.  What  chance 
has  his  immature  Christianity  under  such 
conditions?  Here  and  there  the  churches 
try  to  supplement  the  earlier  training  by 
special  institutions  adapted  to  the  student's 
needs;  but  the  process  is  at  work  in  every 
high  school,  and  in  all  places  it  is  so  inti- 
mately the  result  of  a  lop-sided  culture 
that  even  the  most  enthusiastic  of  those  who 
would  combat  it  feel  that  they  are  as  men 
beating  the  air. 

Hence  it  is  that  an  increasing  number  of 
educated  men  are  assuming  the  attitude  of 
frank  materialism.  But  even  a  materialist 
must  believe  in  something.  The  things  to 
be  hoped  for  and  the  things  unseen  demand 
their  tribute  also  from  an  empty  heart.  If 
men  will  not  have  a  religion  they  must  have 

45 


Given  to  the  Superstition  of  Socialism. 

a  superstition;  and  that  is  the  real  reason 
why  the  superstition  of  Socialism  has  taken 
such  a  hold  on  our  college  men  and  women, 
that  is  the  real  reason  why  so  many  news- 
papers are  simply  pulpits  for  the  preaching 
of  socialistic  doctrines,  and  that  is  the  real 
reason  why  those  who  wish  to  be  consid- 
ered in  the  front  rank  of  progress  advocate 
so  many  socialistic  measures. 

Of  course,  when  I  say  Socialism  I  do  not 
mean  the  Socialism  of  the  soap-box  orator 
or  of  the  street  corner  fanatic.  Those  un- 
fortunates have  no  idea  of  what  Socialism 
really  is.  They  have  only  a  confused  notion 
that  in  some  way  it  is  a  step  to  a  good  time, 
with  little  or  no  work.  I  mean  the  scien- 
tific Socialism  that  places  man's  destiny 
here  below  and  makes  the  whole  duty  of 
man  consist  in  bettering  the  conditions  of 
his  bodily  life. 

This  kind  of  Socialism  is  indeed  the 
legitimate  result  and  term  of  the  apostacy 
from  Christianity,  using  the  word  in  its 
widest  sense  of  a  revealed  religion.  The 
history  of  our  civilization  is  the  history  of 


Socialism  Means  the  Pagan  State. 

a  long  series  of  devices  to  balance  the  rights 
of  the  individual  and  the  rights  of  the 
State.  The  pendulum  has  swung  from  one 
side  to  the  other,  but  never  in  Christendom 
has  authority  succeeded  in  making  itself 
absolute.  Even  in  their  most  servile  days  the 
Christian  churches  have  stood  for  the  value 
of  the  individual.  All  true  freedom  rests 
on  the  answer  to  the  question,  What  shall 
a  man  give  in  exchange  for  his  soul? 
Hence,  no  matter  to  what  degree  the  pre- 
tensions of  the  State  have  been  pushed, 
there  have  never  been  wanting  in  the 
Christian  commonwealth  those  who  were 
able  to  resist  Pharao  as  seeing  Him  who  is 
invisible. 

For  we  must  remember  that  there  are 
only  two  logical  conceptions  of  the  State, 
the  one  Christian  and  the  other  pagan. 
The  Christian  looks  upon  the  State  as  one 
of  the  great  natural  means  given  by  God  to 
enable  him  to  attain  his  last  end.  In  the 
Christian  system  the  State  exists  for  the 
individual,  not  the  individual  for  the  State. 
The  pagan,  having  no  hope  beyond  this 

47 


The  Pagan  State  Not  a  Free  State. 

-world,  looks  upon  the  State  as  the  last  end 
for  which  the  individual  exists.  The  com- 
mon weal  is  supreme,  and  to  this  common 
weal  the  individual  weal  must  give  way. 
His  sole  destiny  consists  in  contributing  to 
the  welfare  of  the  community.  The  first 
conception  of  the  State  is  unthinkable  with- 
out Christianity.  Therefore  when  a  people 
abandons  Christianity  there  is  nothing  for 
it  but  the  pagan  self-sufficient  and  omnipo- 
tent State. 

Here,  then,  is  the  danger  that  confronts 
us.  In  America  to-day  we  are  rapidly 
moving  to  the  establishment  of  the  pagan 
State.  As  Christian  ideas  are  losing  their 
hold  on  our  leaders,  the  supremacy  of  the 
State  looms  larger  and  larger.  Once  upon 
a  time  this  country  was  the  home  of  indi- 
vidualism. For  the  privilege  of  calling 
their  souls  their  own  millions  fled  over  the 
rough  rude  sea  and  buried  themselves  in 
the  wilderness.  It  was  individual  initiative 
that  made  America.  Lonely  pioneer  and 
solitary  trapper  thridded  the  forests  and 
sought  the  treasures  of  mother  earth.  Of 


America  Was  the  Land  of  Individualism. 

course  their  methods  were  wasteful,  but  so 
are  nature's  methods ;  she  is  now,  as  she  has 
always  been,  the  greatest  prodigal  of  us  all. 
Family  by  family  they  founded  cities  and 
built  up  States  whose  history  glows  with 
the  records  of  individual  loyalty  and  indi- 
vidual courage.  But  how  are  the  mighty 
fallen!  The  new  thought  would  strip  the 
American  of  the  last  vestiges  of  his  boasted 
self-reliance.  His  way  would  lie  between 
a  high  and  thorny  hedge  of  do's  and 
don'ts.  From  the  cradle  to  the  grave  he  is 
to  be  warned,  watched,  and  conserved.  His 
most  spontaneous  actions  are  to  be  directed 
and  supervised.  His  pleasures  are  to  be 
regulated,  his  home  systematized,  his  busi- 
ness inspected,  his  food  certified,  his  family 
standardized,  his  reading  censored,  and 
most  likely  he  will  not  be  allowed  to  die 
in  peace  save  and  except  according  to  the 
manner  by  the  law  provided. 

But  here  is  the  rub.  Who  will  watch 
the  watchers  and  supervise  the  supervisors? 
"Quis  custodes  custodiet  ipsos?"  In  our 
popular  form  of  government,  with  short 

49 


Socialism  Destroys   Individuality. 

terms  of  office  and  frequent  reversals  of 
policy,  it  is  difficult  enough  to  keep  the 
ordinary  machinery  of  government  going; 
how  could  the  elaborate  organization  de- 
manded by  the  new  thought  be  expected  to 
function  in  such  conditions?  Already  we 
hear  the  cry  of  "efficiency"  as  against 
"politics."  The  whole  trend  of  the  theory 
of  government  of  late  amongst  us  has  been 
away  from  popular  control  and  towards 
"one  man  power."  The  untrained  politi- 
cian is  to  be  succeeded  by  the  expert.  We 
are  willing  to  sacrifice  our  franchises  to 
save  our  fads.  The  commission  form  of 
government  for  cities  and  for  States,  the 
short  ballot  and  the  enlargement  of  the 
appointing  power,  the  proposed  abolition 
of  the  legislatures,  all  demanded  in  the 
name  of  efficiency,  are  as  so  many  degrees 
marking  our  descent  toward  despotism. 
That  the  "one  man"  is  to  be  elected  does 
not  alter  the  situation.  Empires  also  are 
created  by  plebiscites. 

Such  is  the  end  towards  which  we  move. 
We  cannot  have  the  fruits  of  Christianity 

50 


American  People  Do  Not  See  Trend. 

where  the  root  of  Christianity  has  perished. 
We  cannot  have  freedom  as  the  fathers 
knew  it  if  we  apostatize  from  the  fathers' 
God.  And  the  pity  of  it  all  is  that  we  are 
not  sinning  as  a  nation  against  the  light, 
but  through  ignorance.  We  know  not  what 
we  do.  Hence  this  unrest,  this  uneasiness, 
this  blind  groping  for  a  remedy.  I  am 
firmly  convinced  that  if  the  American  peo- 
ple could  be  made  to  realize  even  now 
what  is  happening  among  them  they  would 
rise  up  as  one  man  and  return  to  the  old 
paths.  As  God  was  banished  by  the  schools 
they  would  bring  Him  back  by  the  schools. 
But  they  will  not  listen  to  us.  Religion  is 
the  last  thing  they  are  thinking  of  as  a 
remedy  for  their  ills.  The  message  of  this 
convention  to  them  falls  on  unheeding  or 
suspicious  ears.  Oh  that  there  were  some 
voice  to  which  the  nation  would  give  heed 
to  turn  the  minds  of  Americans  from  the 
ephemeral  trifles  of  politics  and  business 
and  pleasure  to  the  one  thing  necessary! 
Oh  for  another  Isaias  to  smite  their  sealed 
hearts,  "Hear,  O  ye  heavens,  and  give  ear, 


But  We  Do,  and  Put  Our  Trust  in  Schools. 

O  earth,  for  the  Lord  hath  spoken,  I  have 
brought  up  children  and  exalted  them;  but 
they  have  despised  Me.  The  ox  knoweth 
his  owner  and  the  ass  his  master's  crib ;  but 
Israel  hath  not  known  Me  and  My  people 
hath  not  understood." 

As  for  ourselves,  let  us  bear  in  mind  that 
the  message  is  for  us,  too.  The  supreme 
work  before  the  Catholic  Church  in  Amer- 
ica to-day  is  the  work  of  Christian  educa- 
tion. Before  it  all  the  other  works  of 
mercy  fade  into  insignificance;  without  it 
the  very  fire  shall  die  down  upon  the  altar 
and  the  sacrifice  and  the  oblation  shall 
cease.  Thank  God,  His  Holy  Spirit  long 
ago  inspired  the  hearts  of  our  leaders  with 
a  sense  of  the  need  of  religious  schools.  It 
was  a  daring  program  they  set  before  a 
feeble  folk  and  few.  But  our  people  never 
doubted.  Outsiders  might  slander  and  op- 
pose, but  they  held  their  way.  The  few 
teachers  of  a  century  ago  have  grown  into 
a  great  army  whose  members  have  given 
their  lives  to  the  cause,  not  for  fee  or 
reward,  but  in  order  that  they  may  have 

52 


This  the  Greatest  Work  Before  the  Church. 

the  privilege  of  bringing  Christ's  little 
children  to  His  blessed  feet.  This,  to  my 
mind,  is  the  most  compelling  feature  of  the 
Church  in  America  to-day — not  the  soaring 
cathedrals,  not  the  crowded  churches,  not 
our  material  prosperity  and  closely  knit 
organization,  but  the  spectacle  of  a  great 
system  of  Christian  schools  supported  by 
the  sacrifices  of  the  Catholic  people  and 
made  possible  by  the  devotion  of  men  and 
women  who  serve  their  Master  in  the  reli- 
gious life. 

This,  too,  is  one  of  the  most  auspicious 
signs  of  the  times  that,  in  spite  of  the  keen 
competition  and  the  limitless  resources  of 
other  systems,  the  souls  of  the  Catholic  peo- 
ple are  daily  drawn  closer  to  their  schools. 
The  principles  which  underlie  the  Catholic 
position  are  commending  themselves  more 
and  more  to  their  judgment  and  experi- 
ence. A  meeting  such  as  this,  a  paper  such 
as  that  read  by  the  learned  gentleman  who 
preceded  me,  in  which  the  characteristic 
eloquence  of  the  South  beautifies  the  clear 
thinking  of  the  lawyer,  your  generous  ap- 

53 


The  Burden  That  is  Laid  on  the  Laity. 

preciation — all  are  evidence  that  the  Cath- 
olic schools  are  not  imposed  on  you  by  the 
sole  authority  of  the  Church.  That  simi- 
lar meetings  have  been  crowded  in  every 
city  where  this  convention  has  been  held, 
and  that  in  any  city  of  this  country  it  would 
be  possible  to  duplicate  this  gathering,  are 
facts  which  should  awaken  our  courage 
when  the  prospect  looks  drear.  After  all, 
you,  too,  and  your  brethren  in  the  faith  are 
Americans.  You  and  they  have  a  share  in 
the  moulding  of  public  opinion;  you  and 
they  have  a  part  in  guiding  the  destinies 
of  the  country.  You  and  they  know  why 
this  land  is  troubled.  You  and  they  know 
that  the  only  cure  is  to  bring  God  back  to 
His  own.  You  and  they  know  that  the 
only  efficacious  way  to  bring  Him  back  is 
by  Christian  education. 

But  it  is  you,  Catholic  lay  men  and 
women,  that  must  undertake  this  task.  We 
priests  and  religious  are  not  numbered 
with  the  tribes  of  Israel;  our  work  is  done 
apart.  You  come  and  go  among  your 
brethren,  and  when  they  will  not  listen  to 

54 


Not  Numbers,  But  Earnestness,  Needed. 

us  they  will  listen  and  discourse  with  you. 
See  that  you  know  the  principles  which 
lie  back  of  your  devotion  to  Christian  edu- 
cation. After  all,  they  are  not  very  recon- 
dite or  hard  to  explain.  The  world  has  for- 
got all  the  Catechism,  and  we  have  to  begin 
again  with  the  first  question,  What  is  man? 
On  the  answer  to  that  question  hang  all  our 
policies  and  all  our  philosophies,  and  to 
you  it  has  been  given  as  it  was  given  to  the 
Apostles  of  old  to  be  witnesses  in  Jerusa- 
lem, and  in  all  Judea  and  Samaria,  and  to 
the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth,  that  man 
is  made  in  God's  image  and  likeness  and 
destined  to  be  happy  with  Him  forever. 

And  do  not  be  cast  down  even  if  the 
overwhelming  majority  of  the  nation  to-day 
thinks  differently  from  you.  This  is  the 
work  of  God,  and,  contrary  to  the  sneer 
of  the  skeptic,  God  has  no  need  of  the  big 
battalions.  When  He  sent  Elias  to  restore 
His  name  in  Israel  and  the  prophet  la- 
mented the  universal  apostacy  of  the  nation 
He  said,  "I  have  yet  left  Me  seven  thou- 
sand men  in  Israel  who  have  not  bent  the 

55 


In  God  Alone  is  Fulfilled  the  World's  Desire. 

knee  to  Baal."  When  Gideon  went  out 
against  Madian  with  a  great  multitude  the 
Lord  tried  them  and  sifted  them  till  there 
remained  but  three  hundred,  and  by  the 
three  hundred  He  wrought  deliverance 
for  the  harassed  land.  It  is  not  numbers 
that  count,  but  the  truth  and  the  courage 
to  maintain  it.  And  I  have  no  fear  that 
here  in  America  the  Catholic  laity  will  be 
unworthy  of  the  great  name  of  their  fathers 
or  that  they  will  ever  grow  ashamed  of  the 
Cross  of  Christ.  In  that  cross  and  in  it 
alone  is  the  healing  of  the  nations.  Only 
in  the  blessed  vision  of  its  precious  burden 
shall  be  fulfilled  the  World's  Desire. 


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